Ancient Chinese Wedding Customs

Some time ago, my cousin got married, and I was chosen to be one of the senders to send my cousin to the man's house with all my friends and relatives. Because the man's home is far away, the road bumpy for a long time to arrive. But after arriving, I was not very happy and felt that the other party was not enthusiastic enough. They didn't let the woman's family attend the wedding ceremony, but only came to greet us after the ceremony. This makes me feel the gap between the marriage customs of the two places! Therefore, I would like to know what the wedding customs in ancient China are like.

The "five rites of passage" has said, since the later Qi, regardless of the son of the common people, the wedding, "a said Na Cai, two said to the name, three said Na Ji, four said Na Levy, five said to please the period, the six said to welcome." This is the six stages of the ancient wedding, commonly known as the "six gifts".

Ancient six rites

1, Nacai: this is the first stage of the marriage, the man asked the matchmaker to propose marriage, the woman agreed to discuss the marriage, the man prepared to go to the woman's home to ask for a gift, the gift is a goose, geese are to live. Why geese? Geese for migratory birds, take the symbol of yin and yang, and later developed a new meaning, said geese lost their mates, no longer in pairs, take their loyalty.

2, ask the name: is a marriage proposal, ask the matchmaker to ask the woman's date of birth and name, to prepare for the marriage ceremony.

3, Naji: is to ask the name of the good news of the marriage after divination and then notify the female ritual, also known as "betrothal". This is the main ritual of the engagement stage. Ancient custom, as a rule, to use geese, as a token that the marriage has been decided. After the development of the ring, jewelry, colored silk, gift cakes, gift incense and candles, and even sheep and pigs, it is also known as sent to the fixed or fixed recruitment.

4, Na levy: is engaged in an alliance, the male family will be bride price to the female family, is the stage of marriage rituals. This wedding ceremony is also commonly known as the completion of the recruitment or the big recruitment, over the big gift and so on. Later, this ceremony also took the practice of return gifts, the bride price of food in one or all of the return; or hired, the female family will give the male side of the clothing, hats, shoes and socks as a return gift. The number of bride price and the name of the items to take more auspicious meaning, the number of double taboo single

5, please period: after the bride price, choose the date of marriage, the gift to the female family, to obtain consent when the ceremony. Ancient custom as usual with geese, gifts are generally simple, often combined with the invitation ceremony and the bride price, along with the big gift at the same time to decide the wedding date.

6, welcome: that is, the new son-in-law personally to the female family to meet the ceremony. This ritual is often seen as the main program of the wedding, while the first five as a marriage, engagement and other transitional rituals.

Second, the ancient wedding process

1, welcome

An auspicious day, the groom should personally lead the ceremonial battle to meet the marriage. The man to the woman's home to meet the bride, to enter the geese as a gift, "ritual" called "Dien Yan". Geese are only married once in a lifetime, and after the spouse is inseparable, if one of the two dies, the other will only be single and will never marry again. To reflect the couple's chastity, qin and se, the good wishes of old age. Qing Dynasty Beijing wedding, most of the tendency to imitate the emperor's honor guard, a person in the forefront of the dress riding responsible for opening the way, and then in turn is to avoid the card, drummers, guillotine gongs, embellished lamps, flags, etc., and at the same time to the golden gourd, battle-axe and axe, stirrups, etc., are also arranged in the ranks of the honor guard. The groom on horseback or sitting in the green tent sedan chair in the front, the bride's embroidered red sedan chair followed in the back, it is really majestic, here and now the groom is like the scholar and the first, no wonder that the marriage is said to be "small Dengke".

The sedan chair arrives at the door of the woman's home, the woman's home must be closed, which is called stopping the door. The man outside knocking, urging the bride on the sedan chair. At this point, there will be some polite reply, the female home must be someone across the door to the "red packet". Stop the door to a certain time, the man can enter the door.

After entering the door, in addition to special pleasantries, the male party to send gifts, these gifts due to different times and regions and there are great differences, but all have the meaning of celebration. The way back to the marriage, you must take another road, said "do not go back". If the road encountered temples, wells, shrines, graves, boulders and trees, etc., should be open felt to the palanquin cover up, in order to ward off evil spirits.

2, worship

Marriage sedan chair and ceremonial return to the male family door, the male family is also routinely closed, said to be able to brake the bride's nature. After the door opened, the sedan chair carried into the courtyard, to first pass the fire pit, send relatives and the bride's brother, with the sedan chair into the courtyard to rest, the male family to wine and hospitality.

In the old days, the bride entered the door, to spread some grain, beans, grass, etc., the intention is to ward off evil spirits - the Three Deadly Sirens (the gods of the green goat, the chicken, the green ox), the Three Deadly Sirens are busy pecking, it will not jeopardize the bride. Now the bride out of the sedan chair (car) sprinkle colorful confetti, perhaps from this.

The hour of the sedan chair arrived, the sedan chair to the door of the hall. At this time, the groom first to the door of the sedan chair to make three bows, by the bride's wife to open the door of the sedan chair, by the bridesmaids to assist the bride out of the sedan chair. Then hand the bride a small porcelain bottle, bottle filled with grains and yellow and white ring two or four. The bride holds the vase in her arms, and is then assisted by the bridesmaids and the bridegroom's wife, walking slowly. The bride is then assisted by the maid of honor and the wife of the bridegroom, who then walks slowly. At this time, the groom is already standing in front of the God of Heaven and Earth, holding a bow and arrow to shoot three arrows at the bride's body in order to drive away evil spirits. Archery posture is to shoot an arrow back a step, and then the bride across the saddle, walk the fire bowl, these rituals after the wedding ceremony was held in front of the case, commonly known as "worship heaven and earth".

3, into the bridal chamber

After worshiping heaven and earth, the bride into the bridal chamber. After the bride and groom enter the bridal chamber, the ceremony is also a series of.

First of all, sitting tent, also known as "sitting blessing", the bride and groom sitting on the edge of the bed or the bed in the bridal chamber, the bridegroom will be his left lapel pressed on the bride's right lapel, said the man should be overpowering the woman head to head. But also to spread the happy fruit in the tent, called "spread tent", generally scattered items such as dates, chestnuts, peanuts, etc., the use of harmonic representation of the "early son", "flower with the birth of".

The next program is to eat the children and grandchildren meat and potatoes, children and grandchildren meat and potatoes is to send the wife from the female family to bring. After eating the biscuits of the children and grandchildren, they eat longevity noodles, which are prepared by the men's family to take the meaning of "generations of children and grandchildren, longevity". Then there is "fm radio" wine, also known as "fm radio". A red string is used to tie a wine cup to each end, and the bride and groom each drink half a cup before exchanging cups and drinking from them. The ceremony is held in the cave, but in the hall and set up a table, commonly known as the "reunion dinner", during which the bride and groom sat on the seat, the other guests are sitting on the seat, said that from now on to become a family of one name.

"Cave" custom is ancient, since the two Han Dynasty has been prevalent. In addition to amusement, there are other meanings, such as the cave to make a lively red-hot, drive away the feeling of coldness, increase the joy of the newlyweds atmosphere, and therefore some places also known as the "warm room"; the old man and woman combined with the introduction of more than one person, each other and do not know each other well, the cave to allow them to eliminate the constraints.

In modern Chinese weddings, the custom of drinking cups of wine and making a hole in the house has basically been preserved, but it has been moved to the wedding ceremony, such as the wedding game is the custom of making a hole in the house of the inheritance and evolution.

Three, the ancient wedding to prepare things

1, sedan chair: sedan chair has become the core part of the traditional wedding from the Southern Song Dynasty. Sub-four people carry, eight people carry two kinds. There are dragon sedan chair, phoenix sedan chair. Sedan chair body red mantle Cui cover, above the insertion of the dragon and phoenix, the four corners of the silk spangles, rich people marrying for five sedan chair, sedan chair three times, marrying to go on the way to welcome Mrs. sat a ride, the remaining two by the pressure sedan chair boy sat, welcome back when the bride, welcome the bride, to send the bride to sit on a ride; there are also two blue (or green) sedan chair, blue tweed around the cover, above the insertion of the copper roof, by the groom, the best man each sat a ride.

2, flags, gongs, umbrellas and fans: in the welcoming team, before the sedan chair. Make the whole ceremony lively, spectacular.

3, firecrackers: welcome the wedding car on the way in the ranks, should be fired all the way to celebrate the firecrackers.

4, the fire bowl: placed at the gate of a pot of fire, so that the bride across the past, meaning that the days after the wedding red hot.

5, cover: in ancient times, the bride was wearing cape at the same time with a red cloth cover, in order to cover up shyness and evil spirits, the red take the meaning of good luck. This cover to enter the bridal chamber by the groom to open.

6, scales: into the bridal chamber, the groom used scales to pick off the bride's red head, meaning "as you wish".

7, saddle: saddle "" An "same sound, take its" peace "long meaning. More than put in the bridal chamber on the threshold of the cave, so that the bride across, said the bride across the saddle, a lifetime of peace. When the bride's front foot stepped into the threshold, the back foot lift has not yet fallen, the need for parents, children under the "full blessing of the people" to the saddle off, just in line with the "strong women do not marry two husbands, a good horse does not match the double saddle," the meaning of the.

The heaven and earth table: put more in the courtyard, the table enlarged bucket, ruler, scissors, mirror, abacus, scales called "six evidence". Meaning "six evidence" can know how much food at home, how much cloth, clothes, good or bad, how to look like, whether the accounts are clear, things heavy and so on. Folk say that only the "three matchmakers and six certificates" can indicate that the new marriage is reasonable and legal. Waiting for the auspicious time, the wedding ceremony is held, commonly known as "worship heaven and earth", presided over by the master of ceremonies. A worship of heaven and earth, two worship ancestors, three worship high hall, and finally the couple worship.

8, flower candles: in the wedding in pairs of big red candles, lit in the hall and the cave. Because it has more gold and silver dragon and phoenix color decoration, so called "flower candle".

With the change of time, different customs and habits, but also the formation of a great deal of variability, I have seen the ancient marriage customs process feel very traditional and very careful. This is the charm of traditional culture.